Colin Woodard

In office less than two weeks, Maine’s Tea Party–backed Gov. Paul LePage was making national news for all the wrong reasons, shocking many in a state with a long tradition of civil political discourse.

The fight is on for the soul of the Tea Party. On one side: libertarian-minded grassroots activists. On the other: the leaders of the wealthy, powerful, and better-established Christian right, who’ve dominated conservative populism in the United States for decades.

Maine’s two Republican senators face a more conservative Republican electorate. Will Susan Collins’s recent contortions on letting gays serve in the military be a guide to how they manage in the new political environment?

In 2008 unelected superdelegates to the Democratic convention had the power to choose the party’s presidential nominee. It looked as if the Dems were going to make sure that couldn’t happen again, but then they changed their minds.